Hollywood insiders and celebrity gossip rumors have long floated allegations that Katherine Heigl is “difficult to work with” on set.
Now, in a new interview with the Washington Post, the 42-year-old actress is taking on the court of public opinion — and not surprisingly, she’s frustrated AF by that “difficult” tag that has seemed to follow her wherever she’s gone!
Related: Isaiah Washington SLAMS Katherine Over 2007 Feud Revisited — Whoa! WTF?!
The Grey’s Anatomy alum, who in the past has spoken negatively about work experiences — and later apologized for them — reflected on how her reputation stuck when she started to assert herself more and more.
The Knocked Up star, who admitted the criticism got so intense at one point that she “would rather be dead,” told the Post (below):
“I may have said a couple of things you didn’t like, but then that escalated to ‘she’s ungrateful,’ then that escalated to ‘she’s difficult’ and that escalated to ‘she’s unprofessional.’ What is your definition of difficult? Somebody with an opinion that you don’t like? Now, I’m 42, and that s**t pisses me off.”
Wow!
The outlet even talked to James Marsden, who was Heigl’s co-star in 27 Dresses — another movie for which she’s since been called out for supposedly being “difficult.”
Marsden didn’t quite see it that way, though, explaining (below):
“She has very strong convictions and strong opinions on certain things, and she doesn’t back down from you know if she feels like she’s been wrong in any way. I’ve always seen that as just strength of character. I can see how that can get construed as being difficult or ungrateful or whatever. But if you know Katie, it’s simply because she has the courage to stand behind something she believes.”
Exactly!!!
If she were a man, Katherine would be seen as strong, uncompromising, and dedicated to what she wants in her career! But because she’s a woman, her assertiveness gets her branded as “difficult.” We’re with her all the way on this one: that’s bull s**t!! Not surprisingly, the undue reputation — and her rumored related blacklisting throughout Hollywood — took its toll on Heigl’s mental health.
She explained:
“I think my family, my mother, my husband, my friends were scared. And I regret deeply that I scared them like that. But I just couldn’t control it. I had no tools. I asked my mom and my husband to find me somewhere to go that could help me because I felt like I would rather be dead. I didn’t realize how much anxiety I was living with until I got so bad that I had to really seek help. You can do a lot of inner soul work, but I’m a big fan of Zoloft.”
Jeez. Scary!!
Related: Katherine Expresses ‘A Mother’s Rage’ At Officer Who Killed George Floyd
It took years — and the birth of her son, Joshua Jr., with her husband Josh Kelley — but as time has gone on, the Washington-born star has increasingly been able to cope with her strong personality and her undue reputation.
Heigl herself summed it up best in the interview, saying:
“I’ve grown into accepting that ambition is not a dirty word, and that it doesn’t make me less of a feminine, loving, nurturing woman to be ambitious and have big dreams and big goals.”
Amen to that!
Every young woman and girl should read that and live by it! And force society to accept and understand that assertive women are NOT bossy or bitchy or difficult!!!
[Image via Patricia Schlein/WENN]
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